Lapping machine



Nov. 1, 1938. R; H, LAWSON ET AL 2,135,186

LAPPING MACHINE Filed Feb. 8, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 s 9 fA/l/EA Tflfi'f '2 Q Q PMERJZMW M 0 w Milli 72:01am g N y 7 Nov. 1, 1938. R. H. LAWSON ET-AL LAPPING MACHINE Filed Feb. 8, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I 1 mix HZ? EM J W W [EM m UNHN chine of Fig. 1;

Patented Nov. 1, 1938 LAPPING MACHINE Robert H. Lawson, Pawtucket, and William J ackson, Central Falls, R. I., assignors to Hemphill Company, Central Falls, R. L, a corporation of Massachusetts Application February 8, 1937, Serial'No. 124,628

' 3 Claims.

This invention is concerned with a machine for abrading or lapping small openings in machine ,parts. More especially,the machine has for a purpose abrading or lapping holes in yarn guiding eyes or eyelets,'yarn feeding elements and the like such as employed on knitting machines or other textile apparatus. The invention is hereinafter described with respect to a simple type of machine for the purpose, but is not limited to the particular construction shown, the principles being equally applicable to many other embodiments of the same. The invention may be put to any use for which it is found applicable.

In the drawingsf a Fig. 1 is an elevation of a simple form of lapping machine employing the-principles of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan showing a portion of the ma- Fig. 3 is a sectional view of one of the reciprocating wires having a plurality of yarn guiding eyelets thereon in position to be lapped;

Fig. 4 is a plan view similar to Fig. 2 but showing a support used when working upon elements other than eyelets; v r

Fig. 5 is an elevation showing a detail of the supporting structure adjacent the ends of the machine; a

Fig. 6 is a section showing in detail the manner in which the abrading wire is preformed and the manner in which it engages'within the opening in a yarn guiding eyelet.-

In all types of textile machinery eyelets and other yarn or thread guiding elements are used, these elements generally having a small circular opening through which the yarn or thread is passed, and when these eyelets or elements are made of metal it is customary to perform some sort of an abrading or lapping operation on the inside and on the ends of the-circular openings so that fine yarns will not be damaged as they are drawn therethrough. One customary method of performing this operation has been that of holding'the eyelet or other element such as a yarn guiding finger or the like within a suitable holder and pulling astrand of abrasive material such as emery cord back and forth through the opening until the same appears to be satisfactorily smooth. These'openings through which the yarn is threaded are usually drilled in the metal: .and. the tool marks leave rough projections easily discernible to the naked eye which are particularly damaging to the filaments of fine yarns passing therethrough. The method as employed by hand results in a fairly smooth guid- According to the present method the eyelets or other elements which are to be lapped are strung on a wire which is of a gage somewhat smaller than .the opening to be polished. This wireis mechanically 'reciprocated'to and fro through the openings to be polished, the elements thus polished being held against movement with the wire, or in-other words, relative movement is provided betweenthe Wire and the elements to be treated. The wire is to be coated with some sort of polishing or abrading material such as emery paste or any other substance suitable for the purpose. During the process this paste may be renewed at intervals as necessary. The eyelets will have a movement about the wire as the operationprogresses, especially'wherein the wire is kinked laterally or preformed in some specific way. This lateral kinking of the wire assures that the lapping paste will be distributed at opposite sides of the opening to be polished and. further, as will be described later, assures that all'sides of the opening as well as all points along the'length thereof will receive a similar amount of treatment.

The method previously employed involved a separate and distinct treatment of each individual article and thus due to the expense, very little time could be spent on single eyelets. With this .machine a great number of eyelets are strung on each wire and many wires are reciprocated simultaneously so that the process may be carried over a considerable period of time at a saving and at the same time, with decidedly better results.

Preferably, the wire would be formed somewhat helically, said helixes being of much greater pitch than diameter. 'The slight helical formation of 'the wire, as shown in Fig. 6, makes it possible for all of the opening in the element which is to be lapped to be contacted by the wire and to be afiected by the lapping action thereof. Not only .will the ends be polished and slightly rounded, butthe central part of the opening will be treated to an equal degree, this having been practically impossible by the methods formerly employed.

Now referring to the figures, one simple form a supporting brackets I and 2 are permanently attached to a supporting table 3 standing on legs 4, 5 or upon any other suitable mounting. This sup-- port is herein. shown as made of wood but may be constructed of any suitable material. The upper ends of these brackets I and 2 are formed as illustrated in Fig. 5 to retain wire guiding bushings 6 and I. These bushings will be abraded or lapped, of course, and may be replaced at intervals, it not being of any particular conse;

quence as to the exact size of the opening in these bushings so long as the eyelets to be lapped may not pass therethrough. The upper ends of the said brackets are formed to accommodate the lower half of a bushing while the cap'8 hinged at 9 is formed to clamp down over the upper half of the bushing and is maintained in position by means of a winged nut is screwed .down on the hinged bolt II passing through a slot in the size of the cap. The bushings 6 and 1 are shouldered at either end to prevent movement within the bracket and cap once they have been clamped. An abrading or lapping Wire I2 passes through both bushings and is secured at one end within a connection I3, being secured therein by means of a clamping screw I4. This connection is flattened and drilled to receive a shoulder screw I5 threaded into the upper end of lever I6 which is in turn free to pivot. at IT. This lever is mounted on an angular bracket I8 attached bymeans of suitable connections to the support 3 and has bearings I9 and 26 within the forked projections thereof within which a shaft 2| is free to rotate as it is driven by pulley 22 fixed tothe shaft and passing between the forked ends before mentioned. An eccentric 23 is also keyed to the outer end of this shaft 2| and is rotated thereby as the pulley is driven by a belt 24 or by any other suitable means.

The lever I6 projects at the other side of the pivot I1 and is fitted with a follower 25 in alignment and bearing against the eccentric 23. The said eccentric will serve to impart motions in one direction to the lever I6 and a corresponding movement to the abrading or lapping wire- I2. The return movement of this wire and attendant part is effected by a tension spring 26 attached at one end to a connection 2! at the opposite end of wire I2 and at its other end, to a hook 28 or other suitable connecting element. This hook is fixed within a bracket 29 also permanently secured tothe support 3, said hook and the upper end of lever I6 being in substantial alignment with the centers of bushings 6 and I.

Referring to Figs. 1, 4 and 5, each bracket I and 2 is also provided with supplemental supporting brackets 36 and 3!. These are adjustably attached to the first mentioned bracket by means of screws or bolts 32 passing through elongated slots in said supplemental brackets. A plate 33, Fig. 4, is to be supported by these supplemental brackets, being attached thereto by any suitable connecting means, and fits up under the abrading or lapping wire I2 to support any elements of appreciable weight such as would tend to hang downwardly upon the wire and be abraded at one side much more than at the other, thisresul'ting in an elliptical or non-circular opening. In the particular example shown the plate is being used to support yarn guiding fingers such as shown at 34, these fingers being held between pins or screws provided for that purpose. Preferably one of these plates which is easily detachable from the supplemental brackets would be made up as a sort of fixture for each particular kind of article to be abraded or lapped and pins or other guiding elements might be permanently positioned to receive those elements and present them in proper attitude for the process" to which they are to be subjected.

In Fig. 3 a plurality of yarn guiding. eyelets such as are commonly used in textile machinery are shown threaded on the abrading wire and retained between the bushings 6 and 1. Any

number of these may be abraded at one time so "long as a sufiicient number are threaded on the wire to assure that they do not merely move back and forth with it but are held more or less stationary'while the wire is reciprocated through them. The abrading wire I2 and the bushings 6 and I will be of a dimension depending upon the particular article to be polished, that is, upon the diameter of the opening which is to be treated. Several of these will be kept in stock to be changed merely by inserting different wires in theconnections I3 and 21 and threading the wires through the bushings 6 and 1 which are quickly clamped in the upper ends of the bracke I and'2.

The wire may be preformed as stated, preferably as a helix, as shown in Fig. 6, and in action, one part of each helix as shown at 35 will be in contact with one side of the opening to bepolished while opposite ends of that same convolution of the helix as shown at 36 and 31 bear at or substantially at the ends of the opening and at the opposite side thereof. Thus as thewire which is to be somewhat resilient is drawn through the opening, not only the ends but also the central portion thereof will be affected by the lapping compound on the Wire. Obviously, Fig. -6 illustrates a section taken in one plane, but if any other section were to be taken the same condition would prevail at some point, in other words, each convolution of the helix acts "to abrade all points-on the surface to be polished as the wire is drawn therethrough. Since the action of polishing is practically the same along the entire length of the object to be polished, the time consumed in completing the operation will be a minimum since it is not necessary to'abrade the ends excessively with the hope of having some effect at the center. This has been done heretofore when drawing the ordinary strand of emery coated material through by hand, these strands as furnished not having any helical or kinked conformations.

In the particular illustration of the invention herein presented only one abrading wire has been shown. It is obvious that a battery of these wires may be employed, several eccentrics 23 -and levers I6 being mounted at spaced intervals and the other necessary supporting and guiding elements being multiplied in accordance with *the number of stages provided on the machine. Other means of imparting reciprocatory movements to the, wire will be obvious to those skilled in mechanical movements, it being quite possible to substitute cranks or a crank shaft to which the connections I3 or similar connections might attach, and the shaft 2I or other driving element may be rotated in any convenient way.

The bushings 6 and I may be constructed in slightly different form and provided with several openings so that a corresponding number of wires may be reciprocated through each pair of bushings, one lever I6 and one spring 26 serving to care for many wires and thus an increase in production on the machine without any noticeable complications thereof.

The invention has been described as applicable to abrading or polishing eyelets or other instrumentalities having yarn guiding openings therein such as might be commonly used in textile machinery. The invention is not limited thereto but may be used to abrade or polish openings in any articles of manufacture wherein it is found practicable. The invention is not to be limited except by the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A machine for polishing openings in machine elements including a supporting frame, a

single strand of polishing wire kinked laterally and threaded through bushings in said supporting frame, and means for reciprocating said wire to and fro through the bushings.

2. A polishing machine as defined in claim 1 wherein said wire is laterally kinked in a plurality of planes.

3. A polishing machine as defined in claim 1, wherein said polishing wire is preformed as a helix.

ROBERT H. LAWSON. WILLIAM JACKSON. 

